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The Black Hat Style Guide

You’ve got your tickets, you’ve shined your shoes and picked your dress, the only thing you need now is a black hat for our Black Hat Bash event! Here are a few suggestions:

Fedora

The fedora has gone through a fascinating social transformation through time. It began as the multi-purpose everyday hat for the lower and middle class. However, after Prince of Wales thrust it into the mainstream fashion scene, Gangsters and upper class citizens of the 1920s were quick to adopt fedoras as a staple of their wardrobes. Wear your own fedora to channel your inner Al Capone!

Top Hat

Fun fact: one of the first Englishmen to ever wear a top hat in public incited a riot and was charged with “having appeared on the Public Highway wearing upon his head a tall structure having a shining lustre and calculated to frighten timid people.” Bring an Abraham Lincoln-esque top hat and we promise we won’t charge you!

Bowler/Derby

The bowler, or derby, hat was created to protect gamekeeps from low hanging branches when they were riding around their property. This hat was basically a fashionable helmet. However, during the 1950s-1960s it gained respect as part of any respected businessman’s wardrobe. Wear a bowler hat and fake your best British accent to put on your best Winston Churchill impression.

Cloche

A “cloche” hat is small, bell-shaped, and can be easily styled in many different ways. How did the cloche get its name you ask? “Cloche” translates to “bell” in French giving this elegant hat a simple history. This hat was so popular in the 1920s, that celebrities are bringing it back almost 100 years later. Who doesn’t want to look like Angelina Jolie?

Cowboy Hat

An icon of the Wild West, cowboys everywhere wore these as a badge of honor. Were you really a cowboy if you weren’t sporting a 10-gallon, flat-brimmed hat? There are endless examples of this hat in any old country western movie and if you decide to ride in on a horse wearing a cowboy hat, make sure you take notes on John Wayne’s style.